reading list 2008

Posted: December 31, 2008 | Author: Mika | Filed under: Book of Sand | Leave a comment

New books: 37 ( 12,914 pgs )

Longest book: The Count of Monte Cristo (1,461 pgs)
Shortest book: Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps #1) (122 pgs)
Oldest book: The Count of Monte Cristo (1844)
Newest book: I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter (May 2007)
Best book: tie – Fahrenheit 451 / The Book Thief
Best children’s/YA book: Speak
Worst book: Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
Most disappointing book: The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars

Alan Paton, Too Late the Phalarope
Lemony Snicket, The Miserable Mill
Lemony Snicket, The Austere Academy
Jeanette Winterson, Tanglewreck
Wendell Berry, The Hidden Wound
Lemony Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator
Lemony Snicket, The Vile Village
Phillip Pullman, I Was a Rat
Patricia C. Wrede, The Grand Tour
Patricia C. Wrede, Mairelon the Magician
Jack Weatherford, Savages and Civilization
Jessica Day George, Dragon Slippers
Dave Barry, Peter and the Starcatchers
Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak
Roald Dahl, The BFG
Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair
Steven Brust, The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
Patricia Reilly Giff, Pictures of Hollis Woods
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
Barbara Cohen and Bahija Lovejoy, Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express
Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World
Leonie Swann, Three Bags Full
Dave Barry, Peter and the Shadow Thieves
Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks
Mary Norton, Bed-Knob and Broomstick
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan
Frances Hardinge, Fly by Night
Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
E.L. Konigsburg, The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
Ursula LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea
Lynn Cullen, I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
R.L. Stine, Welcome to Dead House
R.L. Stine, The Ghost Next Door

Yes, I cheated at the end by reading a couple Goosebumps books. But only because I really wanted to beat my previous record of 12,843 pages.

Previous: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004

A lesson in physics

Posted: December 30, 2008 | Author: Mika | Filed under: War and Peace | 6 Comments

Some of you may have completed a physics class in high school. I did. It was sophomore year, with Mr. Mitchell. I can’t remember if the Romgi and I had that class together or not – I think physics was 2nd period, and we had world civ together 3rd period, so whether or not we were both in Mr. Mitchell’s physics class, I can pretty much guarantee that I spent most of class writing notes to the Romgi. Which means I may not have paid a lot of attention to the material.

Those of you who actually learned something may recall that temperature does funny things to objects. In particular, leaving liquids in the freezer can sometimes have unexpected results.

For instance, take a look at this regular bottle of Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider:

Now see the curious things that happen when you ask your husband to put a similar bottle into the freezer because you want to have some, chilled, in about 10 minutes, but you get distracted first by Super Mario Galaxy and then by yet another complete breakdown, and don’t remember there is Martinelli’s in the freezer until late the following morning:

…Oops.

There goes my refreshing treat…sorry about the mess, the Romgi, I’ll clean it up rl good!

One More!

Posted: December 27, 2008 | Author: Mika | Filed under: All's Well That Ends Well | 2 Comments

I just barely took pictures but the Romgi brought me these flowers earlier this week. Ubergreat. Also it gave me an excuse to pretend I have some idea how to photograph things (in reality, I’m clueless and probably quite incompetent).